Daily News, 10-1-06

'NCIS' doc does his 1st autopsy

David McCallum, who plays the chief medical examiner on "NCIS", takes his research to the cutting edge. This year, he performed an autopsy himself. "I requested it," says the actor, who's been hanging out at the L.A. coroner's office since taking on the part of Dr. Donald (Ducky) Mallard three years ago. "I had to gain the confidence of that whole office before they would allow it." How was it to do the procedure? "Wonderful!" says McCallum. "The human body is so extraordinary. ...To see what coronary arteries look like, so tiny and delicate, they could be blocked by something the size of a grain of pepper. ...It's a magical world to watch and feel. ...It was sad, too, to think that this young man was not alive anymore." The actor, who rose to fame on the classic '60s spy show, "The Man From U.N.C.L.E.," and who now voices a car on the Disney Channel's "The Replacements" series, adds that his wife, Katherine, "always says I bring my work home. But she said, 'This time, would you mind leaving it at the office?'"